Jaya writes to PM against study on Siruvani irrigation project

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa today sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's urgent intervention for withdrawing a central committee's recommendation for an environmental impact assessment study on a proposal of Kerala government to build a dam across river Siruvani at Attappady.
In a letter to Modi, she said the expert appraisal committee for River Valley and Hydroelectric projects of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, at its recent meeting had recommended a study on the proposal of Kerala "without obtaining the necessary comments" from the Tamil Nadu government.
"I write seeking your urgent intervention to withdraw the recommendations made by the Committee for grant of Standard Terms of Reference for conducting an Environmental Impact Assessment study on the proposal of Kerala government to build a dam across river Siruvani," she said.

Stating that the river Siruvani is a "sub-tributary" of the Cauvery, also an inter-state river, she recalled that in June 2012 she had written to the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to advise Kerala not to proceed with building the dam of 4.5 TMC ft across Siruvani for the Attappady Valley Irrigation Project as it would be in violation of Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal's Final Order.
Objecting to the nod for the EIA study, she said it is "regrettable" that grant has been given in an "unwarranted" haste without the subject being a part of regular agenda of the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) meeting held on August 11 and 12 and no intimation to the Tamil Nadu government.

"It has been recorded (in the EAC meeting) that the Ministry of Environment and Forests has written to government of Tamil Nadu several times, which is factually incorrect," she said.

Pointing out that Kerala and Karnataka governments have appealed in Supreme Court against final order of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal and Tamil Nadu had also moved the apex court on certain aspects of the award, she said, "these petitions are pending".
"In these circumstances, it is only proper for the (respective) party states to await the formation of Cauvery Management Board and further judicial decisions before initiating any new scheme in the Cauvery basin or its sub-basins," she said.

The Tamil Nadu government has written several times to the Environment Ministry, the Centre and to Kerala "strongly objecting" to the proposed project, she said.
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Meanwhile, DMK president M Karunanidhi sought an explanation from the Jayalalithaa government on the proposed construction of gravity dam across Siruvani river in Tamil Nadu by government of Kerala.
"What is the government's response to the allegations that it failed to respond to several letters sent by the Centre and Kerala government on this issue," he asked in a statement here.
Referring to the members of farming community that districts located close to the proposed dam site would be largely affected due to construction of dam, Karunanidhi sought to know the government's response on it.